I am considering it, epecially if we buy a 420SEL, but has anyone here paid for it yet?
Thanks
David

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2000 Honda Accord V6 137k miles

1972 300SEL 4.5 98k miles

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I have actually been waiting for the above issue to surface ever since Pindelski.com was closed off to the MB DIY crowd...
I use to really enjoy going to the Pindelski site on occasion and learning something new. I also enjoyed Thomas's sense of humor as well as his love & commitment to older daily drives. So I was very saddened when he turned the site into a subscription only deal. I realize of course this is a free country, and respect his right to manage his affairs how he chooses. Still....
The greatest thing about this forum is the constant presence & goodwill of some extermely experienced people who donate their time to monitor and participate with the rest of us DIY'ers. These guys who unlike Thomas, actually make their living as MB techs, find it possible to give this community free advice all the time.
My closing statement is a call to Thomas Pindelski to return from the cold and join us again. Hurray!!

Amen!

I paid for the subscription to the site. It saved me hundreds of dollars when it was free and it will definitely save me several hundreds if not thousands more in the future as I build more confidence in my borrowed abilities to maintain my car. What I find absolutely priceless is the step by step photos of the vast majority of projects. If some skilled member of this forum would walk me through costly proceedures on a CD, I would probably purchase the entire collection as reference material. Some of the extremely learned members of this forum may have forgotten just how valuable their ability to replace an ignition lock tumbler assembly is to someone like me. It took me four days of drilling and shaving but I saved over 400 bucks because that is what the local shop was going to charge me.

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1986 420SEL. 200,000 miles plus.
1991 Cutlass Supreme
1980 VW Vanagon (Old Smokey)

I have it. He has put a lot of work into doing the repairs, taking pics, writing explanations and publishing the procedures. No one esle has developed an FAQ for the W126 like he has. It takes a lot to do a search and sift through the results especially when search results show up for sig lines.

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Regards

Warren

Currently 1965 220Sb, 2002 FORD Crown Vic Police Interceptor

Had 1965 220SEb, 1967 230S, 280SE 4.5, 300SE (W126), 420SEL

ENTER > = (HP RPN)

Not part of the in-crowd since 1952.

I agree. I went to his site frequently, and did a number of repairs with my laptop out in the garage so I could view his walk through of the job. The manuals are great, but they assume a level of familiarity with the jobs that I don't have. I found it much easier to understand the manuals after looking at the job on his site. I haven't subscribed because frankly, I all ready used his site to fix the things on my car that need fixing. I do have some front end suspension work coming up, and if ever does that, I'll probably take the plunge.

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Tjohn

82 300 SD
77 450 SL (gone)

I am a major proponent of free enterprise. I understand where Pindelski is coming from in wanting to cover his expenses of hosting his site.

Where I think the concept is flawed is that as a paid-for site, he has to market it in order to get people to see the value, as the valuable stuff is now hidden from view. You can't sell something that buyers can't see without a lot of time spent marketing the concept. Now, his costs (in time) have just gone up.

A lot of sites, like this one, frown upon people advertising in their forums. They have costs too, and desire to sell banner spots to help cover their costs. This removes a portion of Pindelski's market. Now his potential market segement just got smaller.

If you are truly an MB enthusiast and enjoy helping others, you do what you can to make resources available for your fellow enthusiast. I have posted some of my own discoveries and a few pictures here, just as a lot of others have. If you go as deep as Pindelski has, you create costs for yourself in the form of hosting. I don't know many people who are generous enough to support those costs on their own for any length of time.

My suggested solution was to create a PayPal donation button on the site. If you force everyone to come into your site through a donation pitch page (no deep-linking) that explains how the valuable site is able to exist, I think the money thing would take care of itself. This is especially true for the close-knit enthusiast group of MercedesShop.com. There are a lot of really honest and thoughtful people here that would find it hard not to contribute to the Pindelski effort. I would be surprised if a donation method didn't raise more money than the subscription method.

I used to particpate on a forum called clubcobra.com. At one point in time, the owner of the site mentioned that he was having trouble making his hosting bills. The response was overwhelming. The money he received within a week's time was enough to cover several years of hosting.

Another concept that comes to mind is becoming a part of MercedesShop.com. With Pindelski's efforts added to this site, the value goes up. What better way to sell MB parts than right off a "how-to" section?

Just my 2 cents. I'm not busting Pindelski's balls. I think he is a great guy for doing what he has for so long and wish him all the luck in the world. I wouldn't raise these issues if I didn't feel like they could help him out with his endevor.

I did, more because I used it a lot when it was free and when he made it a pay-for site I just figured I had got so much value out of it that I might as well support it.
I do wish however that he would cut a CD of it and release that if one subscribed, that way it does not go away after a year. (I believe the $19.95 is only for a year)

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1982 300SD (214 k, excellent shape) kidmobile running mostly biodiesel, gets 31 mpg hwy with 2.82 rear from a euro 500SEL



1976 115 body 240D 4-speed (traded for Jeep parts) - Engine lives on in my CJ7

Correction, it's $29.99 or $29.95, something like that. I know it basically comes out to $30.00.
-David

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2000 Honda Accord V6 137k miles

1972 300SEL 4.5 98k miles

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another example today. i had to do a rear window sliding jaw repair. had my local mb parts guy hand deliver the plastic jaw a few weeks ago.

(Thanks Earl!. I used the two rubber gaskets to adjust the height of my printer).

I started today and saw the regulator arm had a rivet type mount. just to be sure, i was thinking right about grinding it off cause the new part had 1 in it i went to search nothing specific came up except 1 thread that thomas had made.

got on his sight and found the exact thing i was doing. so was it worth it. i'd say so even at twice the price.

Thomas has 50 projects listed so far. so i figure 20 or 30 bucks is only a say .30$ per project. now compare that to a repair flix cost of 20$ per project. i think it's a heck of a deal. and at the price charged he's not even covering his cost of the website let alone his cost of photo developing and his time.

Every project done is of the top most quality in layout and photo supplied. i've never seen anything to compare in the automotive field.

I'm sorry that some of us think he's left the fold for the golden fields of profit. i guess you could always buy the factory CD's. Yeah, those photos are good and clear aren't they. Oh and reverse the proceedure to assemble. That is certainly clear directions. and i just thought of another option. the site the pro's mentioned where it costs i think 25$ a day or several hundred for unlimited use. let's see 30 cents or 25 bucks. tough decision here.

I say good luck Thomas and keep the projects coming!

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Thanks Much!
Craig

1972 350sl Red/Blk 117k
1988 420sel charcoal/Blk 140k
1987 420sel gold/tan 128k
See My Cars at:http://mysite.verizon.net/res0aytj/index.html

Pound it to fit then Paint it to match!

There is only First Place and Varying degrees of last!

Old age and deceit will overcome Youth and Enthusiasm every time!

Putting the square peg in the round hole is not hard... IF you do it fast enough!

Old enough to know better but stupid enough to do it anyway!

I'm a big supporter of Pindelski.

I don't have any of the cars that he has pictorials on, but I admire him for his mechanical ability, thoroughness, attention to detail, and humor.

He is going much, much further than anyone else offering DIY help.

I can only imagine how much time it takes to take photo's of every single step, and to write the text that goes along with it.

I'm sure he'll not make a fortune off of it. He's surely not doing it for the money. You can tell he enjoys what he's doing.

I just hope he continues to enjoy working on his car and adding more projects to the list.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

He started out with the CD when the site was free. I bought the CD when I bought my 300SD, and he gave me a year's subscription for free when the site became pay-only, which I thought was very decent. I'll continue to subscribe as long as I own the car; I think it's a great value. At the time he said that burning the CD's was a pain, I think that's one reason he turned it into a pay site.